INTENSIVISTS PEDIATRIC NURSING EXPERIENCE IN THE DEATH OF A CHILD MEANING, GRIEF, BIOETHICAL ASPECTS

Abstract

Experiencing the death of a child is a complex situation, where (I) nurses (I) face opposite positions and evasive, as indifference and apprehension. Objective: To explore the experiences of nurses (I) Pediatric Intensive Care, in the death of a child, in meaning or sense, grief and bioethical issues. Hospital Type 4, Temuco, Chile, 2011. Methodology: Qualitative descriptive phenomenological, hermeneutical reference Schütz. Purposive sample of 7 participants. Information collected through unstructured interview. Results: We describe the metacategories A: Experience and subcategories: a) Tragedy emotionally impacting and affecting, b) Impotence expressions of grief to the family. B: Metacategory Mourning and subcategories: a) Time to grieve, b) humane treatment (respect), C: Bioethical Issues, sub categories a) autonomy, b) justice, c) nonmaleficence. Conclusions: A stressful experience is unveiled in the study revealing that feelings impact on perception, cognition and behavior. Conflicting and evasive positions coexist, as indifference that prevents from suffering and apprehension that wears and exhausts. The need for training that supports self-defense mechanisms and tools for containment and increase bioethics training, is concluded. At the same time continue the research line, to document in greater deph the experiential process.